Faced with severe issues regarding human rights, such as prison camps and threats of harsh censorship, many North Koreans choose to become refugees to escape the inhumane totalitarian regime. In 2010, the number of North Korean refugees in South Korea marked 20,000, recording a notable increase from year 2000. On the way to South Korea, North Korean refugees create routes across China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, hoping to reach the mainland alive. However, such journey is not promising – it may involve loss of loved ones, separation from family members, repatriation, and in extreme cases, death. In order to prevent the vicious cycle of such dehumanizing process, light of human rights must be shone upon them.

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Monthly Archives: November 2013

This is a film I have been working on since summer break before senior year. After completing a week at Georgetown Broadcast Journalism summer camp, I was inspired to film a short Op-documentary that would raise awareness of North Korea and its refugees worldwide.

Although I have spent an ample amount of time editing and have received tremendous help during the process, my video clip is still not perfect. Please, please give me feedback if you would like to comment on any aspect of the video.

Special thanks to my friends from Miss Porter’s who have provided me with all their support. Thank you, Sophie Paris (Miss Porter’s School Photography instructor) for giving up a great amount of your free time and teaching me essential iMovie skills, helping me edit along the way, advising me, and encouraging me until the completion of this project. So much thanks to my friends at school for their constructive ideas and suggestions. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for the support from Miss Porter’s community. I am truly blessed to belong there.

Thank you to all my interviewees. Although my visit to my old middle school broadcast studio, DBS (Daecheong Broadcast Studio) was rather sudden, you all responded eloquently and thoughtfully. Thank you to all including ones whose responses I could not include in the video due to time limit. From the bottom of my heart I truly appreciate your help.

Thank you so much, Ms. Hosaniak (Joanna Hosaniak; Deputy Director General at NKHR) for offering over an hour to respond to my interview. It was truly a source of inspiration and a steppingstone for this whole video.

Last but not least, I would like to dedicate this video to two organizations that have inspired me to commit myself to this crucial cause of North Korean Human Rights: Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). I have worked with both organizations since early sophomore year when I created North Korean Human Rights Club at school with two great teammates. Thank you so much, Eun Young Kim (Senior Program Officer, Campaign Team at NKHR) for hearing me out with my ideas for this video and giving me solid directions. You also made the interview with Joanna possible. Thank you so much.

This is an interesting article about the increasing spread of South Korean TV drama, entertainment shows among the North Korean residents. A British documentary called “Life Inside the Secret State,” directed by James Jones, has captured ordinary citizens of North Korea watching South Korean entertainment shows.

According to this article, more and more North Koreans, after watching South Korean or Western media, are developing feelings of suspicion and dissatisfaction toward the North Korean regime. They are also aware of the freedom that ordinary people have in other countries, such as freedom of press.

Numerous news sources have reported that many North Korean residents have been caught and publicly executed (shot with gun) for watching outside media. The victims include individuals as young as middle school students. According to the press reports, the bodies were shattered into unrecognizable pieces. North Korea should compensate for the lost lives of the people by halting its public execution policy. I hope more documentaries like “Life Inside the Secret State” will be available so that people, aware of such dismal crisis in North Korea, can take action to pressure North Korea to end this humanitarian crisis.

Check out this link from a TV program in South Korea where female North Korean refugees tell their stories. I’m still working on looking for a subtitled one. Sorry!

Stories empower people. I hope more of these personal stories touch the minds of South Koreans and people around the world so that they can empower the North Koreans and refugees. View clip to initiate change! 🙂